Office



(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1.

P. F. MILLIGAN.

A PORTABLE BULLET PROOF WATCH BOX.

No. 383,752. V Patented May 29. 1888.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. P. MILLIGAN. PORTABLE BULLET PROOF WATCH BOX.

No. 888,752 Pajzented May 29, 1888.

UNITED STATES -0 arms.

ATENT PORT-ABLE, su L| 'ET-=PROOF WATCH! Box.

SPECIFICATION forming part: of Letters Patent No. 383.752, dated May 29, 1888.

Application filed July .37, 188 7. Serial No 245,420, (No model.) K

.To 0. whom it 712a, concern:

Beit known that I, PATRICK F. MILLIGANQ a citizen of'the United States, residing at.

Washington, in the District of Golumbia,have in vented a new and useful Bullet-Proof Watch- Box and Masked Battery, of which the following is so full, clear, and exact a description as will enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the.

same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front side elevation of'--the.-

I Fig. 4 is a similar view with the battery consistingof but tworevolvers' Fig. 5 is a de tail representation of the battery support,

showing a revolver in position thereupon.:

Fig. 6 is a detail representation of one of the gushions for closing the port" holes of the watchox.

Like letters of reference dcsignatelike parts in the several views.

The object of my invention is to coustructa means, especially adapted for use on postal, mail, and express cars, which will enable the watchman or other person to effectually protect the persons and property in his charge without any danger of being overpowered or injured in any manner whatever, no matter what the size of the attacking force should happen to beer from what point or points he is attack d.

Another object of my invention is to construct a means by which all the fire-arms composing a battery may be firedsimultaneously and with one effort. I

Still another object of my invention is to construct a device of the character set forth which-will be capable of permitting the tirearms to be independently adjustable with respect to each other in order to cover any desired point or points.

The objects, generally, of my invention are to construct a means of protection against robbers, 850., especially adapted for use on mail and express cars,'which shall vbe extremely simple in its construction and have no complicated parts liableto get out of order, inexpensive in itscost of manufacture, and which shall be so effective in its operation as to. read- 11 recommend itselfto those requiring such a device.

To these various ends my'invention consists in'certain peculiarities in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, substantially as will be hereinafter f nlly described,

and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. p

Referring to the drawings, the watch-box is designated by the letter A,and is provided with a top ortcover, B, preferably constructed of galvanized iron and secured to'the said box A in any suitable and well-known manner. This top B is formed with. perforations G for the entrance into the box of fresh-air currents in order to ventilate the same.

The watch-box A is preferably made cylin- -drical in form, and it is quite obvious that it can be made of any size or material suitable for the purpose, the only essential beiug'that it shall be bulletproof, so that the person within it will be fully proteetedagainst the bullets of the attacking party. A door, D, is formed in the watch-box, serving as a means of entrance and exit therefor, and the said watch-box is below the said port-holes E, and the ends of these tables terminate .at a point immediately opposite the sides of the door D and are cut out in their central portion, as F, to receive the occupant of the box. .The watch-box is further formed with an opening, V, forthe eyes, of any desired width inside and slanting down outside, so as to cause the angle of vision to come as close to the box as possible, afford ing the watch man a clear view of the surroundings.

The port-holes E are kept normally closed by means of bulletproof cushions E, situated in the interior of the watch-box and working in grooves formed in the said watch-box. These cushions E are held in position by means of springs E, and they-are provided with knobs or handles E for convenience in raising and lowering them. It will. thus be observed that there will be no openings in the watch box through which the person therein would be liable to be hit; but a solid bulletproof surface will be presented to resist the bullets of the attacking party, the only opening being the one through which the watchman or other person defehding the car is firing.

, An alarm-bell, W, is situated at'a suitable position within the watch-box, and is intended to arouse the watchman in the event of his slumbering, and in order to accomplish this result it is my intention to have it connected with some suitable mechanism (not shown) set to some suitable place of ingress which will cause the bell -to ring upon being touched or pulled. It will be quite obvious that the bell may be connected with the passenger. or other cars of the train, so that the conductor or some other person can notify the watchman, in case the passenger-cars are the first to re ceive the attention of the robbers.

I have thus described the construction of the watch-box, and-will now proceed to describe the construct-ionof the batteries designed to be used in connection therewith.

The battery-support consists of the base piece, G, and is formed on its upper suni'ace with a series of recesses or grooves, H, to receive the barrels of the revolvers, which are held therein against accidental displacement by means of a rod or strip, l", as shown. A bar, L, (one end of which is shown in Fig. 6,) passes through the trigger-guards M ofv the revolvers, and is adapted torest against the forward face of the triggers. It will thus be seen that all of the revolvers composing a battery will be fired simultaneously and with one effort by the operator grasping this bar and pulling it toward him. 4

The revolvers used in my batteries will ohviously be oi that class technically known as double action, and the recoil is taken up by both hands of the operator and the weight and friction of-the batteries on thetables. It is my practice to have four of these batteries in the watch-box, and to so construct them that they will be capable of being sweptaround on the tables F from one port-hole to another, or to any desired intermediate position, the solid spaces between the port-holes being preferably less than the spaces between the revolvers, and to facilitate this movement of the batteries they may be provided with rollers, if desired; but I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to having the batteries loosely mounted on the tables, as obviously I may secure them to the said tablesone at each port-holeand the operator will thus be enabled to discharge two batteries at the same instant, one with each hand. Nor do I wish to be understood as limiting myselfto the number of batteries employed or to thenumber of moved to either side.

.to give free ingress and egress.

adapted to normally close the said been practically demonstrated by experiment that where a battery of four revolvers earry ing six bullets each is used, it is capable ot'being discharged in a very few seconds so that terrible havoc-can be wrought in the ranks of the attacking party. If so desired, the movable .bar L can be withdrawn and the revolvers tiredseparatcly or ,in pairs by the hands of the operator.

As there may be cases in which to secure protection a segment or half of the watch-box would be desirable for want of room,and where the back would be proteetedsuch as a locomotive and tender, where the distance between them is cramped-I would place'a segment'ou each side, with two batteries which could be These segments would be hinged to the cab, and would swing around would be effectuallyprevented from controlling the engine.

In the practical construction of my invention it will doubtless be found that many of the details of construction might be advantageously varied, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myselfto the exact construction and arrangement of parts herein shown and described, but reserve the liberty of varying the details without departing from the general spirit of my invention.

Having now described the objects, uses, and advantages of my invention, and having de scribed a preferred means for carrying the same into effect, what I believe to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, and what I therefore claim, is

1. A watch-box formed with port-holes for the batteries and openings for the eyes, in combination with sliding bullet-proofcushions port-holes, and springs for holding the cushions in posi tion, all arranged substantially as shown and described.

2. In a battery of the, character herein de; scribed, the base-piece formed with a series of recesses, in combination with revolvers the barrels of which are adapted to rest in the said recesses, rods for securing them therein, and a bar resting against the forward face of the triggers of-the revolvers and adapted to discharge them simultaneously when pulled.

PATRICK F. MlLLlGAN.

\Vitnesscs:

H. J. ENNIS, Gno. J. CHAPMAN.

Thus robbers 

